


and a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be

by aeriamamaduck



Series: Alyosha [15]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Bullying, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fatherhood, Fights, Future Fic, M/M, Married Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Parenthood, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-26 04:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14394786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeriamamaduck/pseuds/aeriamamaduck
Summary: Yuuri and Victor face a new set of parenting challenges.





	and a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to take a second to announce that I am indeed going to write about Alyosha's first trip to finally meet his Hasetsu family!! I'm looking forward to starting it once I finish my last big draft.
> 
> Enjoy and please comment!

This wasn't exactly the type of situation Yuuri had wanted to face on his own, and certainly not on the first occasion that it occurred. 

 

Honestly, Yuuri hadn't expected to be in this situation for at least another two years...But maybe that was hoping for too much. When had life ever been that easy?

 

Sitting in the principal's office made Yuuri feel like there were a million eyes scrutinizing his every move up until this point, like he was the one personally responsible for setting his son on this path, and from then on it would all be downhill...

 

(Yuuri never claimed that his little tendency for exaggeration had completely gone away)

 

But Yuuri kept his jaw clenched, his mouth a flat line, and his eyes alert as he listened to the principal go over what had happened between all four children. He breathed through the chaos in his mind, for Alyosha's sake...and out of spite for the assistant principal who gave Yuuri a doubtful look when he assured her that he  _didn't_  need an interpreter.

 

Alyosha had gotten into a fight. Minor as it was, Yuuri couldn't help feeling terrified when he was first told over the phone. Alyosha had bitten a boy, who'd been teasing his friend Lena incessantly. All three children sat just outside the office, Alyosha frightfully quiet and refusing to look at Yuuri when he arrived. The boy he'd bitten, Pavel, looked incredibly sullen as he held on to the arm Alyosha had bitten. Lena sat between them, sniffling softly.

 

Now Yuuri sat in the office with Pavel's father and Lena's parents, Mitya and Masha, all of them listening silently as the principal recounted the children's individual stories and expressed concern over what could have prompted such a hostile situation. 

 

Biting his lip, Yuuri braced himself for the brunt of the blame, for scrutiny into their home life and how Alyosha was adjusting after his adoption, if he was getting enough attention or if he had some suitable outlet for any pent-up aggression...

 

"This is my fault," Pavel's father, Vadim, suddenly uttered from beside Yuuri, drawing everyone's gaze to him.

 

He was in his mid-thirties and had black hair that grayed at his temples, and only now did Yuuri noticed that the man looked on the verge of a panic attack, foot tapping frantically on the floor as he added, "...I haven't been paying as much attention to Pavel...Tolya's had it the hardest since my...since my wife left. You remember how sensitive he is..."

 

It wasn't anything like Yuuri had expected. At worst he'd expected insults from the man, a warning to teach Alyosha a lesson, anything but the apparent breakdown he was witnessing. Even so Yuuri held on to the tension that had gripped him ever since he was called in, and he wouldn't let go until he had Alyosha back at home and he could call Victor to let him know everything that had happened.

 

Vadim was near tears as he explained how ever since his wife walked out on them, he'd focused the majority of his attention on his older son, and he'd been unaware of his younger son acting out. 

 

Mitya, generous man that he was, immediately offered Vadim help whenever he needed it. He'd made such similar offers to Yuuri and Victor as they got used to parenthood, but Yuuri didn't think it would even occur to him to offer since it was Vadim's son teasing his daughter.

 

They walked out of the office, Yuuri bewildered by the way things had turned out. It had been nothing more than perfunctory advise to teach their children about conflict resolution and the futility of violence. All of it was making Yuuri's head spin, and he wanted nothing more than to go home with Alyosha and talk this over with Victor, who'd probably have some sort of solution and help Yuuri feel better about everything.

 

Almost immediately Alyosha got to his feet first, and Lena stuck to his side while she and Pavel were giving each other hateful glares.

 

Yuuri looked at his son, and was surprised to see barely-hidden terror in those blue eyes of his, even as they met Yuuri's gaze. He felt frozen, not knowing what he could say, and this somehow felt just as bad as being in the spotlight, choking in the middle of a performance. Only this was no performance, it was raising his son.

 

"I-I'm sorry I bit you, Pavel," Alyosha said quietly, his words met by yet another icy glare from the other boy. Yuuri found himself almost stepping between them, about to draw Alyosha closer when he felt the boy flinch underneath his hand.

 

Vadim took his boy by the hand while Masha gathered Lena into her arms, murmuring softly into her ear while Mitya shared a brief look with Yuuri before joining his wife and daughter. 

 

Yuuri blew out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and looked down worriedly at Alyosha, seeing that he looked about as frozen as Yuuri felt. "...Let's go, home," he said, hoping he didn't sound too anxious and that his smile looked reassuring.

 

But Alyosha didn't look reassured, hesitating before taking Yuuri's offered hand and bit his lip before blurting out, "Are you sending me back?"

 

Yuuri felt his smile fade, his gaze surprised as he held Alyosha's hand in his. "...What are you talking about? Back where?"

 

"...Bad kids get sent back," Alyosha replied quietly, and Yuuri was alarmed to see a shiver make its way down his frame. "My friend Andrei got in a lot of trouble at his new home and he got sent back."

 

Ice crawled its way through Yuuri at his words, and for a moment he found himself at a total loss. "No one is sending you back!" he said vehemently, immediately lowering his voice when Alyosha startled and looked at him with wide eyes. Yuuri knelt down to his level, placing a hand on his shoulder and keeping his voice as level and soothing as he could as he added, "We could never do that, Alyosha."

 

He hated seeing the brief flicker of doubt in Alyosha's blue eyes just before he asked in a small voice, "...You promise?"

 

"Of course," Yuuri quickly replied, smiling as he tried to relax even as his heart raced anxiously.

 

Guilt flooded Alyosha's gaze, and he looked down at his shoes with a little pout as he murmured, "I'm sorry for fighting, Tou-san."

 

"I know you are, and I'm glad you apologized to Pavel," Yuuri told him. "I'm proud that you stood up for Lena, but you have to remember that if something like that's happening, you have to tell your teacher."

 

"Only babies tattle," Alyosha said with a slight frown, briefly reminding Yuuri of Yurio. 

 

"Tattling can save people a lot of trouble, you know."

 

"...Are you gonna tell Papa?" the boy asked, as though he hoped it wouldn't be the case.

 

"Well, yeah. It's his job to know. He's not going to be mad. Just worried." He'd either worry his head off about the whole situation or take it in stride, Yuuri had no way of knowing yet. This was entirely new territory for both of them, and even for Alyosha, who carried a fear of being abandoned. 

 

In no way did Yuuri want to contribute to that fear. Alyosha was  _their_  son, and more than anything Yuuri and Victor wanted him to feel safe with them. 

 

He could swear he heard an anxious groan from the boy just before he asked, "Can we stay home today?"

 

"...Yeah." Yuuri got to his feet again, guessing that Alyosha probably wanted to delay letting Victor know. A futile hope, since Yuuri planned on calling him as soon as they got home. For now, he did want Alyosha to feel as safe as he could.

 

Alyosha was quiet the entire way home, and while Yuuri didn't want him dwelling on his worries he wasn't sure just how to coax a conversation out of his son. He started to feel woefully inadequate, even knowing his own silence would worry Alyosha, which made the feeling even worse.

 

It didn't improve when they did go home, and Alyosha immediately went to sit on the couch once his coat was off. Yuuri looked at all the space around him, realizing that months ago Makkachin would have gone to sit by his newest friend and lay his head next to him so he could enjoy Alyosha's curious and loving pats.

 

But those days were over now.

 

Once he made sure his son was alright, Yuuri headed into his and Victor's bedroom and got his phone out to dial, wondering just what he'd say to Victor. Nothing came to him as he put the phone to his ear and listened to the dial tone.

 

Three rings later Victor's happy voice filled his ear. "Yuurichka! Are you and Alyosha on your way?"

 

Right. They were usually on their way to the rink by now. "No," he replied, mindful to speak in English and in hushed tones. "Um...I think Alyosha would rather stay home today."

 

"Why, what's wrong?" Victor asked, concern coloring his tone.

 

"...Something happened at school."  _And I'm afraid that I'm not handling it right, I'm afraid we're going to do the wrong thing and our own son's going to end up hating us or being afraid of us for good._ As his mind raced he explained everything as best he could, trying to include as much detail as he could.

 

Once he was through Victor immediately asked, "Is he alright? Should I come home?"

 

God, Yuuri really wanted to say yes. "...No, Victor, it's fine. I'm here with him. You stay and work with Yurio and Mila."

 

"Damn, I...I should have been there with you," Victor said miserably, and Yuuri could just feel the heaviness in his sigh. "Poor little Lena. Are you sure Alyosha's alright?"

 

"...I don't know," Yuuri answered truthfully, fighting the urge to lay back on the bed and shut his eyes. He rubbed at his face exhaustedly, wondering how he was going to explain the worst part about it. "He was so scared to look at me, Victor. He was scared that...that we'd send him back to the group home."

 

"Why on earth would he think that?!"

 

"I don't know! I just..." Yuuri gave in and fell back with a hard sigh, but kept his eyes trained on the ceiling. "...I promised him we never would, but...I don't know if he believed me. He thinks you'll be mad at him."

 

"I'm not mad! I'm worried out of my mind! I just want to go home and give him a hug."

 

"Yeah, that's what I said," Yuuri told him, allowing himself a faint smile at the image. "I don't think I want to leave him on his own too long. But I don't want to overwhelm him either."

 

"I'm sure you'll know what to do, Yuuri." 

 

A soft laugh slipped out of Yuuri's mouth. Of course Victor would think that. "Anyone ever tell you you might have a little  _too_  much faith in me?" he asked lightheartedly.

 

"I think you tell me that once or twice a year," Victor laughed. He then added in a tender tone, "I'll be home as soon as I can."

 

"Don't rush practice!" Yuuri insisted. 

 

"I won't! I promise,  _detka_."

 

He might have stopped Victor from ending practice early but Yuuri had no illusions about getting him to stop worrying for a bit. "We'll see you in a little while," he said before they hung up. Yuuri allowed himself a moment before getting up to sit with Alyosha. 

 

* * *

 

 

"Where is he?"

 

Yuuri placed a placating hang on Victor's chest, saying, "Don't go rushing in there. Remember, he's scared you'll be mad." 

 

Victor blew out a breath as he hung up his coat, eyes filled with worry as he peered in the direction of the bedrooms. He leaned in to press a quick kiss to Yuuri's lips before sighing deeply. "What do we even say? I feel like everything we read about discipline just ran out of my brain."

 

"I feel like that too," Yuuri admitted in soft tones, rubbing at the back of his neck.

 

Victor looked at him with mild incredulity, and asked with a laugh, "You? From what you told me you said all the right things!" 

 

Yuuri flushed slightly and looked away. "I still feel like...I don't know, like I could've done better. What did Yakov do when you got into fights?"

 

He looked up at Victor when no answer came, his husband blinking at him in surprise before he gave another laugh and said, "Yuuri, I wasn't  _Yurio._ I didn't get into  _fights_. I was always passive-aggressive with people I didn't care for and all of my conflicts were more or less resolved on the ice." He then gave Yuuri a little smirk before lightly tapping his nose with his index finger. "Besides, _you're_ the fighter here. Yuuko told me about that time you gave Takeshi a black eye."

 

Yuuri's blush intensified at the reminder and he exclaimed, "That wasn't a fight! It was dumb luck!" He'd been thirteen and Takeshi had been taunting him by holding one of his books over his head, but Yuuri had managed to catch it in both hands with a jump. "I was trying to get my history book back from him and it just...slipped from my grasp and hit him in the face!" 

 

"It stopped him from picking on you, though," Victor said casually.

 

"More like I learned to stop losing my temper because of him, so that probably bored him." 

 

Victor kept smiling as he drew Yuuri into his arms, squeezing him close as Yuuri resolved to very thoroughly block out that particular memory. Cheek pressed against Yuuri's forehead, Victor asked softly, "Is he in his room?"

 

"Our room. We were looking at maps." Yuuri thought it'd be a good idea to thumb through Alyosha's beloved atlas with him, talking to him about Hasetsu again and coaxing him into pointing it out on the page. "I didn't want him to feel like I was sending him to his room. He feels bad enough already."

 

Nodding as he listened, Victor pressed another kiss to Yuuri's forehead before taking his hand and leading the way to their bedroom.

 

As soon as they walked in Alyosha immediately looked up from the atlas, and Yuuri's chest seized at the way he seemed to freeze at the sight of them. Yuuri felt like he'd freeze too, but then Victor asked with a pout as he approached the bed, "And where's my hug and kiss? I missed them so much today, _malen'kiy!"_

 

Alyosha visibly relaxed, but his voice sounded shy when he greeted, "Hi, Papa."

 

Victor beamed at him as he gathered him into his arms, and Yuuri was incredibly relieved to see Alyosha wrap his arms around Victor's neck. Victor sat down on the edge of the bed, Alyosha settling onto his lap as Yuuri sat beside them, and he said in a light tone, "I heard that you had some trouble at school."

 

Alyosha looked down guiltily, biting his lip before saying quietly, "I'm sorry for fighting..."

 

Victor couldn't seem to resist giving Alyosha another reassuring hug, longer than the first as he murmured to their son reassuringly, "No one is going to send you anywhere. You belong with us, and Tou-san and I would miss you terribly!"

 

"It's true," Yuuri said, reaching for Alyosha's hand to give it a loving squeeze. "We'd miss everything about you."

 

His throat went tight with emotion when he saw the hopeful look in Alyosha's eyes. "So I can stay forever?" the boy asked, gazing up at them both.

 

"Even longer than that," Victor said with a wide smile, reaching for Yuuri's hand to give it a squeeze as he kissed the top of Alyosha's head. "We're a family, and we stick together," he added.

 

The words seemed to cheer Alyosha, and Yuuri was feeling better as well. He leaned against Victor and held on to Alyosha's hand, never wanting to let it go.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr: **aeriamamaduck**


End file.
